this was an image from senator kerry taking on an incumbent president, george w. bush and say by simply showing up, the challenger has a lot to gain. >> yeah, when they stand on the same stage as the president of the united states, then you basically become almost an equal at that point in time, and that race went from a seven-point lead to a one-point lead in 48 hours, and that's what the challenger was able to do. john kerry won it and took the race to almost even within two days. >> so a big opportunity for mitt romney this week. >> a huge opportunity for mitt romney. he could take this race in the states that he's losing right now and change the dynamic of this race just by standing on stage and performing well. >> so much riding on it. this first debate, viewers, anywhere between 50 million, 60 million viewers are the estimates. this year more important than ever the early voting that's taking place. >> early voting has taken place in key states like iowa right now and voters willing watching now, and voters are going to be wanting this. they're already votin